Association of tirofiban with improvement of functional outcomes of direct thrombectomy for acute anterior circulation occlusion: a retrospective, nonrandomized, multicenter, real-world study

OBJECTIVE Although tirofiban and endovascular thrombectomy have been widely used in the treatment of acute ische- mic stroke (AIS) patients, the effectiveness of their combined application remains a subject of debate. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of tirofiban in direct thrombectomy for AIS with anterior circulation vessel occlusion. METHODS A total of 204 patients undergoing direct thrombectomy between January 2020 and December 2021 for AIS with anterior circulation vessel occlusion from four hospitals were included in this study. Patients at high risk of reocclusion with severe atherosclerosis, those who achieved successful recanalization for >= 3 stent retriever passes, or those who underwent emergency stenting or balloon angioplasty for severe residual stenosis were treated with tirofiban. Fol- lowing a low-dose intra-arterial bolus (0.25-1 mg) immediately after endovascular treatment, tirofiban was administered continuously through intravenous infusion (0.1 mu g/kg/min) for 12-24 hours. The primary efficacy outcome was evaluated using the 90-day modified Rankin Scale score. The safety outcome was assessed using symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) and mortality rates. RESULTS The tirofiban group and nontirofiban group each included 102 patients. The favorable outcome rate in the tirofiban group was significantly higher than that in the nontirofiban group (53.9% vs 35.3%, p = 0.007). However, the sICH and 90-day mortality rates were lower in the tirofiban group, despite a lack of statistical significance (sICH: 15.7% vs 16.7%, p = 0.849; 90-day mortality: 16.67% vs 24.51%, p = 0.166). Finally, it was found that older patients (> 72 years), male patients, patients with admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores > 14, patients with a time from on- set to reperfusion > 327 minutes, and patients with a medical history of diabetes tend to benefit from tirofiban treatment. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that tirofiban combined with direct thrombectomy improves functional outcomes of AIS and reduces the 90-day mortality rate. Therefore, it could be considered as a suitable treatment option for AIS patients with anterior circulation vessel occlusion.